ANM

Active Network Management System

Active Network Management (ANM) system uses real time network information to calculate safe levels of generation for managed connections in the Orkney Islands.

The ANM system measures the power flows at several measurement points on the network and controls multiple renewable generators that are part of the scheme. The network is divided into zones which represent constraint points in the network and the system receives real time information from the measurement points which are identified as Zones in the map below.

Distgen Ltd operates a 500 kW wind turbine located in Newark on the Eastern shoreline of Westray (Zone 1). The wind turbine is part of the ANM system and is being managed by the SMC.

Generators are in a priority queue and as capacity becomes available, a set point (in kW) is transmitted to a PLC in each Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSE) substation. SMC reads off the kW set point as a variable current called a “serial current loop” into a Modbus enabled device which the SMC mediation device polls continuously. The kW value is then sent to the wind turbine controller as a Modbus value.
The SSE kW set points vary from second to second and the SMC adjusts the turbine's permitted production levels within 60-90 seconds of receiving new set points from SSE.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a set of valuable data streams picked by the operator to easily monitor the relevant asset(s) in one place.

In this example, we have integrated the active power data across 6 wind turbines scattered around the country.

KPIs are particularly interesting when different types of data streams such as weather conditions and generator production are displayed together for data correlation and analysis.

The operator immediately observes the production data from each of the wind turbine without any investigation.